Neihborhood Legend
by notlupus
Summary: Every neighborhood has a legend. From Boo Radley to the Town Witch. God only knows what the children of Princeton all think of House. First major project. Flame if you see fit, I really don't care.
1. Making Friends

Summary: Every neighborhood has its legend, Boo Radley, "the town witch"; God knows what the Princeton children all think of House.

Lame Excuse: I'm barely 13 years old, all I can say is to not expect the works of Shakespeare! Its also my first real project!

Disclaimer: I think the fact that I wrote disclaimer could pretty much say it for itself, don't you think.

Neighborhood Legend

'Baker Street.' Tom Wiggens thought as he pulled the suitcase out of his dad's Honda.

"Baker Street," he whispered to himself. "What an original name." he rolled the heavy suitcase onto the sidewalk and proceeded to drag it to the door of his new apartment, 220b Baker Street. He looked at the red brick apartment complex. And then he looked at all the other red brick apartment complexes. He's been living in a hotel for a while until they moved a lot of their stuff in. 'And I thought Jersey was mainly a forest covered place,' The young teenager looked around Baker Street, noticing couples jogging, people walking their dogs, and a group of kids talking in the alleyway across the street. He snickered to himself, thinking, 'I can't believe it, a Brooklyn kid complaining about the city.' He looked around the street again and smiled to himself. 'Well at least there are more trees here…'

He carried his luggage over to the door and swung it open. As he stepped inside, he looked around the dark room that he will have to get used to for a while. To his left he noticed a small closet and as he went farther into the apartment he realized that he was in a small, living room. On his right was a small kitchen, and across the room was a hallway leading to a couple of bedrooms and a bathroom. Tom walked over to the bedroom at the very end of the hall way and had a look around. It wasn't that big a room and he noticed that through one of the windows he had a perfect view of what was going on across the street. As he looked up and down the street through the panes of the glass to test how far he would be able to see, his eyes once again landed on the kids talking next to they alley. It looked there was perhaps the entire neighborhood's child population there, he wondered if they would like him, or if he would be deemed "new kid" for the next year and a half. Suddenly he felt a hand press lightly down on his shoulder.

"Hey, honey, do you want to go outside for a bit? Meet some new friends?" To tell the truth, it was actually the very last thing he wanted to do. He had no idea what they would think of him. But he figured he would have to meet them some time or another, and it was either that or unpack his suitcase.

"Okay, Mom, I'll go."

"Make sure you're back by 7:00 okay, you have half an hour. Tom went back through the apartment and stepped back outside. Once again, he noticed the kids at the other side of the street. They were sitting down at the stoop of 223B, but the weird thing was that the kids around his age would occasionally venture towards 221B, but after they got relatively close to it, they would hurry back to 223B, as though they were afraid. It seemed like they were having some kind of competition to see who would go the farthest before they ran back to the neighboring building. Tom suddenly saw one of the older kids in the group notice his staring and glared at him, not wanting to appear nosy, he saw his father chatting with a man who lived in the apartment next door. Nervously, he approached the crosswalk, he checked for cars and when it seemed safe, he crossed the street. As he got nearer and nearer to the group of kids he began to catch snippets of their conversation.

"Did you see the blood on his shoes yesterday?" asked one of the older looking boys of the group.

"Yeah, you could still see the stains on the sidewalk," said another of the teenagers.

"He also had some on his shirt."

"And his jeans!"

Tom, being the nosy 13 year old he was, wondered who they were talking about. He ran to the group and simply said, "Who are you talking about?" The kids who looked around his age snapped their heads around to see the intruder of their conversation. The smaller kids only looking about 8-9 years old practically jumped at the sight of him. And the older boys simply just glared. One of them, looking about sixteen or seventeen, was trying to see if he knew this nosy boy from anywhere. He didn't seem familiar so he just assumed he was the new neighbor who just moved in.

"What's your name?" he asked the new kid.

"Tom." He said.

"Last name please?" he asked irritably.

"Wiggens" he said while rolling his eyes.

"So you're the new neighbor?"

"yeah"

"so, you don't know who we're talking about?"

"no" Tom said, really starting to get agitated.

"well of course you don't, you're new." The high schooler said simply.

"Oh! For Christ's sake, will you please just tell me who you're talking about?" Tom practically yelled.

"Well, why didn't you ask?" He said earning multiple snickers and a few confused glares from the rest of the group. Tom just frowned.

"Okay then, for the record, we are speaking of the psychopath of Princeton, the nutcase of New Jersey, the terror of the tri-state area…"

"Damn it, Jack, quit it with the alliteration, and just tell him already!" said another of the older boys.

"We are speaking of the legend of Baker St.; we are speaking of Old Man Dr. Gregory House, the Mad Doctor, himself!" he said with emphasis earning wide eyes from the younger children of the group.

"Mad Doctor?" Tom asked snickering, "Unbelievable…"

"You should believe us you know," said another boy, this one Tom's age. "Jack has proof." He said nodding toward the previous speaker.

"Alright, I'll tell you," the older boy, presumably Jack, said. "About ten years ago a certain Dr. Greg House moved into 221B Baker St.," he points to the apartment that the group of kids was playing around before. "…with his girlfriend, Stacy. Now, he and Stacy were the perfect couple, taking jogs around the neighborhood together, everyone loved them. Then one day Dr. House was gone for about a week. He was at the hospital. He came back in a wheelchair, never to be the same again. We heard that something happened to his leg, he was in constant pain, and he would never be able to run or even walk normally again. Well anyway one night, I heard bottles breaking, people yelling, and then it all went quiet. The next day, his girlfriend's car wasn't in the driveway, and she never came back."

"What happened?" Tom asked.

"He killed her, probably stabbed her or something, then dumped her in the car, and drove it to the Delaware River. He probably dumped the body in the river, left the car at some garbage dump…"

"Why would he do that?" Tom asked.

"Well it would look awfully suspicious if his girlfriend's gone but there are still two cars in the driveway, don't you think?" He said. A very embarrassed Tom just nodded at this.

"But then why wouldn't he just push the car into the river? Why would he take it to a dump?" He enquired again. Jack rolled his eyes.

"Well for one thing, he's a cripple; do you think he could have pushed the car into the river by himself? And also, think about how easy it would be for the police to find the girl if she was floating around in her car?" Tom nodded at this again, but he still had his doubts.

"How do you know he's a killer? How do you know she just didn't leave him? What right do you have to accuse the worst of this man?" He interrogated. Jack frowned.

"Well, there are many stories about the Mad Doctor. And there is one that has little doubt of this man's evil." He says.

"What?" Tom dares.

"First off, I'm gonna say that there used to be this nice old lady who lived down the street. Her name was Esther, and well one day, Esther got sick. From what I've heard, she had bloody diarrhea or something. She went to the hospital, and her doctor was the one and only, Dr. House." He said gesturing to 221B. "Well anyway, in about a day, Esther died; supposedly it was total organ failure. I know, you're probably thinking, 'well how is that Old Man House's fault?' the funny thing is that about a week later, Fred here," he gestured a tall redheaded kid chewing gum. "Had bloody diarrhea," Fred's face flushed at that. "and his doctor said that it was just a digestive problem, an upset stomach!"

"How do you know it wasn't a completely different disease Esther had?" Tom interrogates, thinking that he finally had Jack beat this time. But he just smiles and nods his head.

"Tom, Tom, Tom, tell me. How often do you hear about people having bloody diarrhea? Not often, right? So it's not really that common a symptom is it? And well Fred's doctor said it was a digestive problem, and well you know old people! They always have digestive problems. You know, that was probably what Esther really had. My bet is that the Mad Doctor knew it was a digestive problem, but he gave Esther some kind of drug that shut down all her organs. I think that he killed her, but made it look like some kind of rare, unsolved disease." He said with smirk. Tom couldn't help but think that Jack had a point. He looked at the other kids; they probably all had their doubts at first too. If all these people were so convinced that this man was a killer, then perhaps they might actually have a point.

"Fine," Tom said. "I didn't want to believe you at first," He looks the older boy in the eye. "But I guess you can't always get what you want, can you?" Jack smirked.

"Okay, let me tell you a little more about Old Man House," And so the tales began. "Esther, she was only the beginning. After she died, the Mad Doctor started a kind of tradition." Tom nods. "Ever since then, he would choose a patient once a week that would be his next victim." Everyone was silent; Tom noticed that many of the younger kids were gone. He figured they must have left once it started to get dark. "A lot of times he just drugs them," Jack said simply. "Just like he did to Esther." He looks at Tom evilly, "But sometimes…he likes to get creative."

"Dr. House has been known to give his patients autopsies. I heard he did it to someone's cat once. However, unlike most doctors, when Old Man House does an autopsy, the patient normally isn't dead yet." Sickening realization dawned on Tom, he felt like he was about to vomit.

"He'll tell the family that the patient has passed away, he says that he or she is in the morgue to await an autopsy so they can find out what the patient had. He does that every time, and all but the first statement is true. He keeps the patient on some kind of combination of drugs that makes them look dead and act dead, except for the fact that the patient is completely aware of what's going on around them. So all in all, once a week, a patient at the hospital has an agonizing, torturous, surgery, they will eventually die of blood loss, pain, or absolute fear. Sometimes, on quieter days in the hospital, he doesn't even bother with the drug; he just puts the patient on restraints and then gags them so they don't make any noise. Tell me Tom, is that how you'd like to die?"

Tom shakes his head. This man sounded horrible, it was sickening; he didn't know if he wanted to believe it.

"Wait 'til you get your first look at the guy. Trust me; you'll never doubt me again. For now I'll say that he's incredibly tall, looks like a zombie, and has these inhuman blue eyes that seem to freeze everything in their path." He looks at Tom. "Hey, kid, are you okay?" He didn't realize he was shaking. He wiped some sweat off his brow.

"What? Oh, I'm fine, don't worry." He looked at his watch. 7:23. 'Damn,' he thought. 'Mom wanted me back twenty minutes ago'

"Um…I gotta go, bye." He started to run back to the apartment.

"See yah, Tom!!" he heard, but not from Jack but from one of the boys his age.

"Hey Mom, sorry I'm late. Didn't realize the time." Tom said as he walked in the door.

"Oh well, time flies if you're having fun. We're going to go to Chile's soon okay?" His mom said, putting some things on the kitchen counter.

"Okay"

"So Tom, did you make any new friends?" Tom smiled.

"Yeah, and I think I'm gonna have a great time here."


	2. The Mad Doctor

Summary: Every neighborhood has its legend, Boo Radley, "the town witch"; God knows what the Princeton children all think of House.

Disclaimer: Tell me if you think this answer is gonna be any different from what you see on the millions of other fanfictions circling around the internet. Please, use your common sense people.

A.N. I think this came out a lot better than the one before. But of course that's just me.

Neihborhood Legend

Chapter 2: The Mad Doctor

The first thing Tom noticed was that he was lying down, dressed in only his boxers, on a flat, steel, table in the middle of a dimly lit room. The room is filled with vials of strange chemicals and jars with shriveled body parts and disfigured animals floating in them. He heard tapping of feet and noticed a freakishly tall man, over eight feet, who seemed to be busy with something in the far corner of the room. The man had wild, burnt hair that stuck up in all directions, and was wearing a blood splattered lab coat. The man took a bottle filled with a strange liquid and poured some of the liquid into another bottle. A light hissing could be heard. Then the man put down his experiment and faced the boy.

"Hello Tom," he said emotionlessly. Tom couldn't help but stare dumbfounded at the scars that crisscrossed and overlapped each other on man's pale, bloody complexion, or the bloodshot, pupil less, blue eyes that illuminated his face. Tom tried to get up off the table but found that he could only struggle against the restraints.

"Who are you?" he asks shakily. He suddenly starts to hear the faint notes of piano. The man smiles an evil grin and opens a leather case.

"Who are you?" Tom asks again. The music starts to quicken and was gradually growing louder. The man pulls out a scalpel with a flourish and begins to examine it under a small desk lamp. He takes the scalpel and places the very tip on Tom's bare chest. The tunes of the piano intensify and are at an incredibly fast pace. It's only then that Tom realizes that the music must be going to the beat of his heart.

"Why, I'm the Mad Doctor"

Suddenly, Tom was no longer in the strange laboratory of the Mad Doctor. Instead he found himself in a dark space, but instead of the metal table he was lying down on before; he was in a soft bed, his bed, in his room. The Mad Doctor, the laboratory, the "autopsy", It was all a dream. _Well, of course it was a dream, _he thought_. No need to act so stunned._ And that's when he heard it. It was the soft notes of the piano again. The same tune that was in the dream, but it was different this time. It was much softer, calmer then in the dream, like the ocean after a heavy storm. The music seemed to be coming from behind him, from another apartment. Tom looked out his window only for his eyes to gaze on the apartment 221B. It was the apartment of Old Man House, the Mad Doctor. Through the window, Tom could see the outline of a man at a piano. Jack never said that the Mad Doctor could play like that. It was beautiful, almost hypnotizing. Tom smiled, rolled back under his covers, and then fell to a calm, dreamless sleep.

"So you do this _every_ day?" Tom asks, slightly amused.

"Yeah, pretty much," says fellow thirteen year old, Patrick. "except for the school year, he goes to work after we leave for school. But it's neater to see him when he's coming home from work anyway"

"Isn't it sort of weird?" He asks again.

"Yeah, but sometimes it can be a little entertaining; like some days he might have blood on him, or he might bring something home with him, but normally its just to watch him. The guy's weird, but normally we just do it to know when we can mess around by his apartment and when we have to scram." Patrick says snickering slightly.

"Anyway, I thought Jack would show me the guy; what's he doing that put you in charge?" Tom interrogates.

"Oh please, Jack has seen the Mad Doctor hundreds of times; he thinks that he has much better things to do than to wake up this early and point him out to us. For the record, he normally eats his breakfast around 1:45." He says while rolling his eyes. "Besides, you need to make some friends your own age."

The two teenagers walk over to an old pickup with a FOR SAIL sign stuck to the windshield. Tom noticed that the truck was parked adjacent to the Mad Doctor's apartment. Perfect for spying. Patrick steps onto the bumper of the truck and then climbs into the back. Tom soon follows. As he climbs into the back of the truck he notices two other kids in the truck who seemed to be looking fixedly at 221B.

"Hey Aishan, hey Courtney" Patrick says to an Indian looking boy with curly hair and tall, blond girl with her hair put in a ponytail.

"Heya" says the girl. She looks over at Tom. "Heard you talking to Jack yesterday, Tim right?"

"Tom actually," he corrects.

"Close enough," she says with a smirk, "so…you're getting your first look at Old Man House huh? Well, I aught to brace yourself if I were you; he can be quite a shocker."

Aishan rolls his eyes.

"He's not that bad, it's not like he's covered in scars and has blood pouring out of his ears, Courtney." She just shrugs. Patrick decides to interrupt the small quarrel.

"Guys, guys, look he's coming out!" The group ducks underneath the edge of the pickup truck, but not so much that they couldn't see what was happening on the other side of the street.

At 221B, the door opens smoothly and outcomes a fairly tall man, not the eight foot character that was in Tom's dream but instead a man looking about 6'3", 6'4" perhaps. It was hard to tell seeing as he was hunched over an elegant wooden cane. The man also had graying hair that looked quite unkempt, more like a bed-head rather than the "oops-those-two-chemicals-shouldn't-have-gone-together" hairdo that was in Tom's imagination. But like in the dream, the one thing that seemed to stick out were the man's eyes. They were sky blue and gave you the feeling that they could see right through you. Other than that the man had an unpleasantly gaunt face with wrinkles on his for head, and a depressing frown. Tom didn't know if it qualified much as the face of a killer compared to the face of an extremely unpleasant person, but he thought again that it could be both. The man limped down the steps and hopped onto a damaged orange motorcycle, and sped off noisily. The show was over, and will be back on some time this afternoon.

"So then Tom," Patrick asks, "What do you think?"

"He's certainly interesting," he says watching the motorcycle speed along the road.


	3. Cripple in Need

Summary: Every neighborhood has its legend, Boo Radley, "the town witch"; God knows what the Princeton children all think of House.

Disclaimer: If you can't see this disclaimer then Adobe Flash Player isn't on the correct resolution.

Author's Note: This chapter is a fair bit smaller than the others but seeing as tomorrow is my first day of school and I like to stay on my teacher's good side, and I would just like to say that compared to my other activities, fanfiction is probably around number six on my priority list. However I do the best I can and well, enjoy. :-)

Neighborhood Legend

Chapter 3: Cripple in Need

It was now two weeks after Tom's first sight of the Mad Doctor, and he found that he was starting to get into the casual swing of every day life in Princeton. Now that school has started he has made multiple friends including Patrick, Courtney, and Aishan.

One Monday morning he was about to go to school when his stops him.

"Hey Tom, I got something for you." He said with his hands behind his back.

"What?" Tom asks curiously. His dad pulls out a handsome bronze pocket watch and shows it at Tom's eye level.

"It's a Wiltzer family heirloom. Belonged to your great grandfather." He puts it in Tom's pocket. "And now it's yours. Take care of it, don't you dare lose it." Tom nods an okay. "Now hurry up and get to school" his dad said, and Tom was off, pleased with the added weight in his pocket.

/Neighborhood Legend/

"Where is he?" Patrick groans impatiently.

"He should be getting back soon." Courtney reassures. Tom checks his watch. 5:45. On a regular day, Old Man House would be here by now. He figured it was a patient day, on those days he may not be back until the morning after.

"He's probably got a patient," Tom says. "I'm going home." Tom hops out of the rusted pickup truck and was about to walk home, when he suddenly heard the loud roar of a motorcycle.

"Here he comes" Courtney says.

"Finally!" Patrick exasperates.

"Shut up!" Whispers Aishan. The motorcycle then parked in its space next to 221B. Tom watched a familiar scene of the Mad Doctor sliding off the bike and taking his cane out of a compartment on the side of the bike. Suddenly as he walked to the door of his apartment, he tripped, the cane flew out of his hand landing in a bush, his backpack came open, spilling numerous books, papers, and a stethoscope all over the sidewalk.

"God damn it!" He yelled. "Hey you!" he looks at Tom. "Mind helping a poor cripple?" he says with a sarcastic smile. The man struggles to get up and holds the rail on the set of steps for support. Tom crosses the street plucks the Mad Doctor's cane out of the bushes, and then stuffs the papers and stethoscope back into the backpack. He shuffles over to the man and hands him his things.

"Here you go," He stutters nervously. He was face to face with the Mad Doctor, the man who's antics birthed legends on Baker St. It was terrifying. "Hope you're okay." He stutters again. After all it was the polite thing to do. Instead of even saying 'thank you', Dr. House just nods and limps into the apartment.

For a split second, Tom gets the chance to look into 221B. He sees a messy room with a large couch and a small tv. He also notices the piano he occasionally hears the Mad Doctor play and on the wall was an assortment of guitars both electrical and acoustic. Tom wondered what the entire place looked like and suddenly his curiosity was stricken.

/Neighborhood Legend/

When Tom got back to the old pickup truck he saw Patrick, Aishan, and Courtney completely wide-eyed. He heard sentences coming from them such as,

"Way to go, man! That took some guts!"

"You have got to be insane!"

"Lucky!"

Tom however wasn't in the mood for this, he had a question.

"Guys, guys, guys, I need to ask you something." They look at him like he just pulled a lizard out of his nose.

"What?" Patrick asks.

"Have any of you ever been in the Mad Doctor's apartment?"


	4. Spelunking

Summary: Every neighborhood has its legend, Boo Radley, "the town witch"; God knows what the Princeton children all think of House. Neighborhood child Tom has a growing curiosity with his street's "Mad Doctor" the topic of all rumors and tales told on Baker St. Read as Tom explores the life of Gregory House, perhaps learning something along the way.

Disclaimer: If you can't see this disclaimer then Adobe Flash Player isn't on the correct resolution.

Author's Note: I am SO sorry for the late update, I was going to write it last weekend but I had a soccer tournament, any way enjoy!

--

Neighborhood Legend

Chapter 4: Spelunking

"Is he still gone?" Tom looks out his bedroom window. The scratched orange motorcycle was still standing next to the sidewalk, but the rusty old Dodge was nowhere to be seen.

"Yeah, I think so." He says to Patrick. They just got back from school, and were planning something that Tom never thought he would do on his first few weeks of Princeton living.

Tom dips his fist into his jeans pocket and meets the feeling of cold metal against his knuckles. He takes the antique watch out of his pants and debates about whether or not he should bring it. He holds it up to the light and once again notices intricate designs carved into the bronze.

_Dad would kill me if I lost it,_ he thought.

_But maybe it could be a bit of luck to me, _he thought again while stuffing it back into his pocket.

"Come on, we should go while there's still time," Patrick reasoned then walked out of the bedroom. Tom followed him out of his apartment and stepped onto the pavement.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Tom sighs.

"Hey it was your idea." Patrick states and the two of them walk across the street over to 221B. They walk over to the side of the brick apartment complex. Patrick positions two tin garbage cans underneath a small window at the side of the building. Tom saw what he was getting at. "Could you keep these steady?" Patrick asked. Tom leaned on the garbage can.

"Just a quick look around, okay? I don't want to hang around for an hour in the Mad Doctor's House, it's just too creepy." Patrick climbs onto the garbage cans and leans against the side of the apartment. He then slides the window open with ease. Tom looks at him accusingly.

"Lock's broken," Patrick explains. He slips into the building feet first and hops down. Tom then jumps onto the garbage cans-wobbling a bit-and slides into the building after Patrick. As Tom lowers his feet down, he is surprised that they hit a flat surface, a rather dirty sink to be precise.

_So this is the kitchen, _he thinks and hops down to the floor. Tom looks around, realizing that his partner in crime is nowhere to be seen.

"Pat?" he says.

"I'm over here!" Tom hears from another room, "Looking for a light switch." Suddenly a dim light illuminates the house. "Found it," Patrick says reappearing in the kitchen.

"So, what is it that you wanted to do Tom?" He says looking around.

"Just look around I suppose…." He says walking into the living room. Tom had to admit, the place did seem fairly cozy. Part of him was actually expecting vials of poison and lab rats running around in their cages. However, one part of this was true. In one corner of the room Tom heard faint squeaking and the ticking of plastic. He walked over to the source of the noise. Inside a wire cage was a small grey mouse running on its wheel. He smiled and then turned to the centerpiece of the house. Next to the window was a gorgeous, Baby Grand piano. It was well cared for and highly polished. Aside from the piano, there were also numerous other musical instruments displayed around the room including a collection of expensive guitars hung up against the wall and a silver harmonica sat on the mantel, gathering dust. Tom returned his attention to the piano, and drummed his fingers against a few of the keys. Rich sound filled the apartment, reminding Tom of his first night in Princeton.

"Jesus, look at what this guy reads!" He heard from the corner. Pat seemed to be looking through the bookshelf. Tom walked over to join him. Inside the bookshelf were heavy books with faded pages. It held large texts like Renowned Physicians of the 20th Century, Arttsvenni's Complete Guide to Infectious Disease to novels such as Angels and Demons, The Rain King, and Flowers for Algernon.

"They're all covered in dust," Tom points out, "Doesn't look like he's opened them in years." Something seems to have caught Pat's eye, because he didn't act like he heard a word Tom said.

"Some of these are in different languages," He said. "Here's one in Spanish, and another in Japanese, or maybe it's Chinese…" Once they got bored of looking through the Mad Doctor's books, they decided to venture into his bedroom. Unlike the living room, the bedroom unfortunately looked completely normal, if not a bit messy. Pat sat down on the bed and picked up an old cane hanging on the bedpost.

"Look Tom, I'm the Mad Doctor! I'm gonna kill all of you because my leg hurts and I can't walk anymore, Aughhhh!!" He groans in a deep voice. Tom couldn't help but snicker at that. He suddenly heard a click from somewhere in the other room.

"What was that?" He whispers. The click is soon followed by the swinging of a door.

"Oh Crap! He's back!" Tom gasps. Patrick's face goes pale.

"Oh damnit, we're gonna die aren't we…" Patrick quietly groans.

"'And if he doesn't, our parents definitely will! Come on! We need to hide!" Patrick looks around frantically. They heard footsteps coming to the bedroom.

"Quick, under the bed!" he whispers. They both shuffle under the mattress as quietly as they could. A minute or two later the door swung open. Tom held his breath. Old Man House limped into the room. His face was red and held an unpleasant scowl. He walked over to the bed. Tom felt like he was about to faint. The man leaned down and picked up the cane Patrick held only moments before muttering something that sounded a bit like,

"Damn Wilson…" The man walked off into the hallway. After a minute or so, Tom heard the powerful gushes of water from a shower. He couldn't believe his luck. If the Mad Doctor was taking a bath, then they would have plenty of time to get back out of the apartment. Tom crawled out from under the bed with Pat, and the clink of metal on hardwood was long ignored, a certain something falling out of Tom's pocket.

"We should go," he whispered. Pat nodded. The two tiptoe back to the kitchen, climb into the sink, unlatch the window, and slip out into the alleyway. Tom couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with the feeling of safety once he left the apartment. Tom and Pat stand in the alleyway for a few minutes when sarcasm interrupts the silence.

"Well, that was fun" Pat mutters.

"Yeah…it was, but I am definitely never going to do that again." Tom says with a laugh. The two exchange their goodbyes and go their separate ways.

--

About an hour later, as Tom was watching television, he had that uncanny feeling that he was forgetting something. He puts his hand in his pocket, and suddenly it hits him. Memories suddenly materialize as he remembers the cramped space underneath the bed and a clang of metal he so stupidly ignored. He already decided that he never wanted to go to 221B again, way too many risks, but then how was he ever going to get his watch back. He looked across the street. The Mad Doctor's apartment held a much more dismal glare than it did in the past. No way was he ever going in there again.

"Oh, damnit"


	5. Halloween

Summary: Every neighborhood has its legend, Boo Radley, "the town witch"; God knows what the Princeton children all think of House. Neighborhood child Tom has a growing curiosity with his street's "Mad Doctor" the topic of all rumors and tales told on Baker St. Read as Tom explores the life of Gregory House, perhaps learning something along the way.

Disclaimer: If you can't see this disclaimer then Adobe Flash Player isn't on the correct resolution.

Authors Note: I am SO sorry for the late update, I 've just been quite busy, with school and all.

--

Neighborhood Legend

Chapter 5: Halloween

All in all, it has been a very stressful couple of weeks for Tom Wiltzer ever since he broke into The Mad Doctor's apartment. If all went to plan, he and Pat probably would have had a grand tale to tell to every kid on Baker St. Well, they still probably have quite the tale to tell but Tom just wasn't as enthusiastic about it as Patrick happened to be. To Pat, it was a heroic story of escapade that put him league with his older brother, Jack. To Tom however, it was a topic he wasn't too comfortable discussing, mainly because he felt that it was stupid of him to completely forget about his watch that he left in the Mad Doctor's bedroom. To Tom the whole thing was a failure, a mistake.

Anyhow, it was now late October and the seventh graders were deciding the costume that they would wear for the last time they could possibly go trick-or-treating with an ounce of dignity. Tom, Patrick, Courtney and Aishan were sitting at their usual lunch table discussing their plans for the thirty first.

"So what are you guys thinking of?" Tom asked his friends casually.

"I'm going to be like a ninja grandmaster guy," said Aishan, "I'm gonna wear my hapkido uniform and a weird mask I got at Party City." Tom looks at Pat.

"I'm gonna be Hannah Montana," Patrick announced, making a pose. Everyone laughed and Tom nearly choked on his sandwich.

"What about you Courtney?" Tom asked, still recovering.

"Why, I'm going to be the great Sherlock Holmes." She said in what was actually a passable English accent.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Patrick asked curiously. Courtney snickered and said,

"Oh, that's just my old Harry Potter obsession coming back to haunt me." She said with a grin.

"So Tom, what are you being?" Aishan said, returning to the subject. He thinks for a moment, this has actually been on his mind for a while.

"How about…the Mad Doctor?" He said. Patrick smirked. Aishan smiled approvingly, and Courtney whispered something that sounded like 'he's gonna killlll you,'

"What?" Tom asked. "It's a good idea don't you think?" Patrick was still laughing.

"Its just that Tom, you've lived on Baker St. for like two months, but you're more obsessed with the Mad Doctor than any of us!"

"I'm not obsessed," Tom said in his defense, "He's just…interesting." Patrick still snickered.

"Okay, okay Tom, think what you like." Tom rolls his eyes and goes back to his sandwich.

--

On the thirty first, the group had completed their costumes, and was coming home from school, jittery with excitement.

"Pat you can have all my Tootsie Rolls," Tom said, "I think they're disgusting."

"Alright, thanks," Pat said. "Come to my house at 5:30, okay guys? Bye" Patrick, Tom, Courtney and Aishan bid their goodbyes to each other and went home to prepare for the night on their own.

When the clock reached 5:30, Tom was dressed in the costume he thought might best fit the Mad Doctor. At the party store he bought a doctor's costume, and a bottle of "blood". He had his hair messed up and wiped some of the fake blood on his face and hands. He also splattered it all over the lab coat, scrub pants and surgeon's mask that came in the doctor's kit. The kit also came with a stethoscope that he put around his neck and some plastic scalpels that he stuck in the coat's breast pocket. This he figured was what Old Man House might look like after an "autopsy".

When he reached Patrick's house he had to admit that he was slightly disturbed with the sight of his friend. Pat was clad in tight fitting jeans, a tight, pink, sparkly jacket, and a blonde wig. It wasn't exactly the kind of state one would normally like to see their friend in.

"Hey Pat." He walked inside. Courtney and Aishan were already there. The two of them already had on their costumes and were waiting impatiently.

"Come on, let's go guys." Courtney said, and they were off.

Now eight-o-clock, Tom, Patrick, Aishan, and Courtney were walking back to Pat's house, each with a pillowcase filled with Snickers, M&Ms, Hershey Bars, and multiple other tooth-rotting goodies, and were all joking and teasing each other, like kids should.

"Old Man House is gonna kill you Tom, how dare you mock him in such a way." Pat goaded dramatically.

"Hey Tom, after your autopsy can I have your PSP?" Aishan asked fake sincerely. Tom just snickered with his friends. As they were crossing Oakridge, Tom noticed a couple of teenagers sitting on at a bench on the side of the street. They seemed to be smoking something, and they were sharing a glass bottle, no doubt filled with some kind of alcohol. Under one of the boy's sweatshirt hoods, Tom could've sworn he saw a familiar face, he just didn't know where to place it. And that's when it hit him.

_Jack_, he thought._ No…it can't be him; it's pretty far away. _He thought again. Pat noticed that Tom was acting strange.

"Tom, what are you looking at?" Pat's words brought Tom back into reality. The boys were gone now; they just left and were gone, away from sight.

"Nothing." Tom said hastily.

_It's not any of my business._


	6. Fire is a Dangerous Thing Part 1

Summary: Every neighborhood has its legend, Boo Radley, "the town witch"; God knows what the Princeton children all think of House. Neighborhood child Tom has a growing curiosity with his street's "Mad Doctor" the topic of all rumors and tales told on Baker St. Read as Tom explores the life of Gregory House, perhaps learning something along the way.

Disclaimer: If you can't see this disclaimer then Adobe Flash Player isn't on the correct resolution.

Author's Note: If you were following this story then I am so sorry for the late update! Okay, I'm gonna add some new drama and action to this story…okay now that I have you curious, READ! READ I SAY! READ!! (and don't forget to review)

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Neighborhood Legend

Chapter 6: Fire is a Dangerous Thing Part 1

Never once did Tom find the events of his life to be this stressful. Most boys his age only had to deal with small things, like not making the football team or failing a math quiz; those worries were insignificant anthills compared to the pressure that Tom was forced to deal with. And what was truly odd, is that all of these problems circled a man whom he hasn't even met, a man who didn't even know his name, but yet everything centered on him. And for that Tom partly despised him, but part of him also knew that the Mad Doctor really had nothing to do with the misfortunes that came to him, but rather Tom's interest in the Mad Doctor brought them upon him. If Tom just ignored or forgot the rumors Jack told him then he never would have lost his grandfather's watch, he never would have found out a secret about the best friend's brother, he never would have been in this predicament, and now that he was stuck with these problems, the only thing he could do was to do his best to fix them so he could go on with leading the average life that boys his age were supposed to have.

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For about a week, Tom did his best to return his life to the relaxed peace it once was. However, whenever he tried to speak to Patrick, he couldn't help but feel incredibly distant to his friend, with the fact that he knew something about his brother that Pat didn't know. '_But what if he does know?_' Tom couldn't help but think. '_what if he knows,' _The whole ordeal with seeing Jack drinking at a park bench was something that Tom didn't want to be involved with. Something he wanted to forget.

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That night when Tom was in bed, he woke up to the sound of voices and metal clinking coming from outside. He stood up drowsily and looked out of the glass panes of the window to see a couple of people huddled outside the Mad Doctor's apartment. He could see very little despite the help of the streetlights, for the pair was lurking in the shadows.

Jack stood against the brick building, fiddling with a box of matches. He stood there quietly for a couple of minutes until he noticed a tall figures appear from out of the shadows.

"Took you long enough." Jack said juvenilely to his friend Dillan.

"Well you didn't have to wait until your dad was asleep so you could smuggle lighter fluid out of his workshop." He responded clearly irritated, shaking the white plastic container. Leaning on aluminum garbage can-making a small clinking noise-Jack eyed the bottle curiously.

"How much is in there?" He asked.

"Enough," Dillan said. We're looking to scare the guy, not blow up the entire building." Jack rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he agreed. "but we're still following _my_ measurements." The two hoisted themselves onto the two metal bins next to the apartment. Instead of having them next to the kitchen window like Tom and Patrick did, they moved them over so they would be able to operate through the bedroom window instead. Leaning through the window, Dillan hesitantly managed to pour a very small puddle onto the carpet. Jack just looked at the tiny spill with a raised eyebrow. "Oh come on you pansy, you're gonna have to put more than that." Folding under the pressure, Dillan carefully doubled the size of the puddle of fluid.

"Good enough for you?" he said mock-politely. Jack grinned, lit a match, and through it into the gas, snickering at the thought of Dr. House waking up to find his carpet charred and his favorite cane reduced to a smoking pile of ash.

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After watching the two figures seemingly dump something into the apartment, Tom crawled back into bed wondering why he got so hopped up in the first place.

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Walking back home, Jack decided to start up some conversation.

"Remember when this whole Mad Doctor idea started?" he asked.

"Yeah, but of course you find the need to elaborate and gore up everything enough to make the guy sound like a flippin psycho." Dillan stated bluntly.

"Well remember, we were and actually still are pretty sure that he killed his girlfriend and that Esther woman, so he probably is psychotic." Dillan scrunches his eyebrows together like he does when he's thinking of something clever to say.

"Well, that's never actually been proven, but anyway you tell everyone that he kills every patient he encounters when we're not even sure if he's killed one." He says with a laugh.

"Kids are fun to play with." Jack says simply.

"One guy, that new kid Tom was him for Halloween you know." Jack can't help but smirk at that.

"Figures, that kid's obsessed. I swear, he'll probably dote on every word he hears me say about Old Man House.


	7. Fire is a Dangerous Thing Part 2

Summary: Every neighborhood has its legend, Boo Radley, "the town witch"; God knows what the Princeton children all think of House. Neighborhood child Tom has a growing curiosity with his street's "Mad Doctor" the topic of all rumors and tales told on Baker St. Read as Tom explores the life of Gregory House, perhaps learning something along the way.

Author's Note: Well first of all I'm going to say that I'm happy to find out that people are still reading my story. :] and **LostShizophrenic**, I'm sorry to say it but I'm gonna have save that to the end. And to my other anonymous reader **Beth**, I'm glad you like my story and I think I updated it fairly quick. :) Okay this chapter is a bit shorter than they've been but it was initially supposed to be one chapter along with the one I updated last night….

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Neighborhood Legend

Chapter 6: Fire is a Dangerous Thing Part 2

In the middle of one of House's dreamless slumbers, he suddenly woke up in burning discomfort. His eyes closed and his head stuffed in the pillow, he noticed sharp pain shoot itself through his leg. He bolted up right, only for his skull to bash itself against the oak rods of his bed's backboard. An adrenaline induced high pumped through his body, and he looked around his bedroom in quiet shock.

"What the hell?" he asked himself. Flames danced on the carpet, the door was a pillar of fire and the smell of burnt rubber fogged up the air, its source most likely being his new pair of sneakers at the foot of his bed. Suddenly a sliver of fire shot up his blanket, and his leg screamed in pain. Panicking, he threw the comforter off of him, only causing it to ignite into a complete fireball. Looking down, he saw that his right pajama pant leg was charred and smoking in some places, and he dared not to look at the thigh underneath. Sense of impending death overpowered him and his leg once again shot up in discomfort. A pained yell exploded from his lips, and then he fell unconscious.

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Only a small distance away, Tom Wiggins woke again this night to the going ons at the apartment of 221B. This time, instead of small noises like the sound of someone leaning against a garbage can, he heard a desperate scream from the other side of the road. Scrambling out of his bed, he looked outside. He could see lights flickering through the Mad Doctor's windows, and the faint smell of smoke found its way to his nostrils.

Running into his parents' room, Tom told them of the calamity that occurred.

"Mom! Dad! There's a fire in the apartment across the street!" His father opened his eyes.

"What's that Tom?" he couldn't believe them.

"There's a fire!" Tom yelled. "In the neighbor's house!" This woke up Mr. Wiggins.

"You stay here." He said to Tom. Tom's dad then told his mother to call 911 and tell them about what happened. "I'm going to see how bad things are." Mr. Wiggins put his jeans on over his pajamas and hurried outside to see smoke billowing out of the windows of 221B. Disobeying his father, Tom rushed out after him and sat down on the stoop of his own flat. Some of the other residents of Baker Street apparently noticed the fire also and rushed outside to find the cause. Not long after, sirens were heard in the distance and a fire truck and an ambulance rushed to the scene. Firemen broke down the door of building and they soon emerged with an unconscious House. They put him in the stretcher and took him off to the hospital, leaving the rest of Baker Street in shock.

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As Tom's father went down to question one of the firemen on what they think happened, Tom couldn't help but think of those two people he saw hanging out by the apartment that same night. It was probably them who set off the fire, but of course he couldn't help but wonder why they would do it. After a few moments of pondering this, Tom's father soon returned from questioning the fireman and ushered Tom inside.

"They don't know what caused the fire." He said after a moment's pause. "They know it started in the bedroom but luckily it didn't get very far," He frowned for a moment. "Unfortunately, Mr. House suffered a few burns and some other injuries." Mr. Wiggins then hugged Tom, telling him he was lucky he noticed the fire, otherwise House could have suffered more fatal burns and injuries. Tom's mother and father then walked back to bed. Tom figuring he should get back to sleep too, shuffled over to his room and climbed into bed. Taking one last look at 221B, before he fell asleep.


End file.
